scholarly journals Dihydrophenanthrenes from a Sicilian Accession of Himantoglossum robertianum (Loisel.) P. Delforge Showed Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Antiproliferative Activities

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2776
Author(s):  
Natale Badalamenti ◽  
Sabino Russi ◽  
Maurizio Bruno ◽  
Viviana Maresca ◽  
Alessandro Vaglica ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes ◽  
Gastric Cancer Cell ◽  
Pharmaceutical Chemistry ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Glutathione S Transferase ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Gastric Cancer Cell Lines ◽  
First Time ◽  
And Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Antiproliferative Activities

The peculiar aspect that emerges from the study of Orchidaceae is the presence of various molecules, which are particularly interesting for pharmaceutical chemistry due to their wide range of biological resources. The aim of our study was to investigate the properties of two dihydrophenanthrenes, isolated, for the first time, from Himantoglossum robertianum (Loisel.) P. Delforge (Orchidaceae) bulbs and roots. Chemical and spectroscopic study of the bulbs and roots of Himantoglossum robertianum (Loisel.) P. Delforge resulted in the isolation of two known dihydrophenanthrenes—loroglossol and hircinol—never isolated from this plant species. The structures were evaluated based on 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and two-dimensional spectra, and by comparison with the literature. These two molecules have been tested for their possible antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and proapoptotic activities. In particular, it has been shown that these molecules cause an increase in the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN); show antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and have anti-proliferative effects on gastric cancer cell lines, inducing apoptosis effects. Therefore, these two molecules could be considered promising candidates for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical preparations.

High-resolution RHEED analysis of dynamics of low-temperature superstructure transitions in Ge/Si(001) epitaxial system

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (11) ◽  
pp. 115603
Author(s):  
Vladimir V Dirko ◽  
Kirill A Lozovoy ◽  
Andrey P Kokhanenko ◽  
Alexander V Voitsekhovskii
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thickness ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Diffraction Method ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
A Value ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Dimensional Growth ◽  
Analysis Of Dynamics ◽  
First Time

Abstract In this paper, we analyze superstructural transitions during epitaxial growth of two-dimensional layers and the formation of quantum dots by the Stranski–Krastanov mechanism in elastically stressed systems by the reflection high-energy electron diffraction method. Detailed dependences of the periodicity parameter N of the 2 × N reconstruction on the effective thickness of the deposited material in a wide range of growth temperatures during epitaxy of germanium on a silicon surface with a crystallographic orientation (001) are obtained. Superstructural transitions and the change in the value of the parameter N at low temperatures of epitaxy in this system have been investigated for the first time. It is shown that the length of dimer rows in such a reconstruction during the growth of pure germanium on silicon can reach a value of no less than N = 11. A relationship is found between the value of the parameter N, determined by elastic strains in the system, and the critical thickness of the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth. Based on this relationship, a physical mechanism is proposed that explains the nature of the temperature dependence of the critical thickness of the Stranski–Krastanov transition, which has been the subject of constant scientific disputes until now.

Monoelemental two-dimensional iodinene nanosheets: a first-principles study of the electronic and optical properties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asadollah Bafekry ◽  
C. Stampfl ◽  
M. Faraji ◽  
Bohayra Mortazavi ◽  
Mohamed Fadlallah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Blue Shift ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Generalized Gradient ◽  
Functional Theory ◽  
Electronic And Optical Properties ◽  
Exchange Correlation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
First Time

Abstract Very recently, two-dimensional (2D) iodinene, a novel layered and buckled structure has been successfully fabricated [Mengmeng Qian et al., Adv. Mater. (2020) 2004835]. Motivated by this latest experimental accomplishment, for the first time we conduct density functional theory, firstprinciples calculations to explore the structural, electronic, and optical properties of monolayer, few-layer and bulk iodinene. Unlike the majority of monoelemental 2D lattices, iodinene is predicted to be an intrinsic semiconductor. On the basis of calculations using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) of Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) for the exchange-correlation functional and the Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE06) functional, it is shown that the electronic bandgap of iodinene decreases with increasing the number of atomic layers. Our HSE06 results reveal that the bandgap of iodinene decreases from 2.08 to 1.28 eV as the number of atomic layers change from one to five, highlighting the finely tunable bandgap. The optical study shows the monolayer has the ability to absorb a wide range of ultraviolet light, more than multilayers and bulk iodinene. As the number of layers increases, the absorption spectra exhibits a blue shift relative to monolayer iodinene. This study confirms the remarkable prospect for the application of iodinene in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics owing to its intrinsic semiconducting nature.

Melatonin protects against cadmium-induced oxidative damage in different tissues of rat: a mechanistic insight

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Mitra ◽  
Bharati Bhattacharjee ◽  
Palash Kumar Pal ◽  
Arnab Kumar Ghosh ◽  
Sanatan Mishra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cytochrome C ◽  
Oxidative Damage ◽  
Protein Carbonyl ◽  
Environmental Pollutant ◽  
Glutathione S Transferase ◽  
Protein Carbonyl Content ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Liver And Kidney ◽  
Nadh Cytochrome ◽  
Cd Exposure

Cadmium (Cd) is a notorious environmental pollutant known for its wide range of toxicities to organisms. Thus, the present study is designed to examine whether melatonin, a potent antioxidant, protects against Cd-induced oxidative damage in the heart, liver and kidney of rats. Cd treatment at a dose of 0.44 mg/kg for 15 days caused severe damage in all these organs. These included significantly increased activities of SGPT, SGOT, lactate dehydrogenase- 1 and 5 and ALP and levels of total lactate, creatinine, lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl content and reduced glutathione while the activities of superoxide dismutases, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glutathione-S-transferase along with mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, α-keto glutarate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, NADH-cytochrome-c-oxidoreductase and cytochrome-c-oxidase were significantly reduced by Cd. However, if melatonin was given orally 30 min before Cd injection, all these alterations induced by Cd were significantly preserved by melatonin. Histological observations also demonstrated that Cd exposure caused cellular lesions, promoting necrotic or apoptotic changes. Notably, all these changes were significantly protected by melatonin. The results suggest that melatonin is a beneficial molecule to ameliorate Cd-induced oxidative damage in the heart, liver and kidney tissues of rats with its powerful antioxidant capacity, heavy metal chelating activity and competition of binding sites with Cd to the GSH and catalase.

Safety assessment of biological raw materials in the system of medicines quality assurance

2020 ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Yu. Olefir ◽  
E. Sakanyan ◽  
I. Osipova ◽  
V. Dobrynin ◽  
M. Smirnova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
First Time ◽  
Medicines Quality

The entry of a wide range of biotechnological products into the pharmaceutical market calls for rein-forcement of the quality, efficacy and safety standards at the state level. The following general monographs have been elaborated for the first time to be included into the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation, XIV edition: "Viral safety" and "Reduction of the risk of transmitting animal spongiform encephalopathy via medicinal products". These general monographs were elaborated taking into account the requirements of foreign pharmacopoeias and the WHO recommendations. The present paper summarises the key aspects of the monographs.

Aromatic Volatile Composition of Celery and Celeriac Cultivars

HortScience ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 556-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredy Van Wassenhove ◽  
Patrick Dirinck ◽  
Georges Vulsteke ◽  
Niceas Schamp
Keyword(s):  
Volatile Compounds ◽  
Chromatographic Method ◽  
Apium Graveolens ◽  
Volatile Components ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Qualitative Composition ◽  
Volatile Composition ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Gas Chromatographic Method ◽  
Identification And Quantification

A two-dimensional capillary gas chromatographic method was developed to separate and quantify aromatic volatiles of celery in one analysis. The isolation, identification, and quantification of the volatile compounds of four cultivars of blanching celery (Apium graveolens L. var. dulce) and six cultivars of celeriac (Apium graveolens L. var. rapaceum) are described. The qualitative composition of Likens-Nickerson extracts of both cultivars is similar. The concentration of terpenes and phthalides, the key volatile components, found in various cultivars of both celery and celeriac varied over a wide range.

Antitumoral and Anticholinesterasic Activities of the Seven Species from Rubiaceae

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 302-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla R.F. Volobuff ◽  
Pedro C.O. Junior ◽  
Sidney M. dos Santos ◽  
Zefa V. Pereira ◽  
Diego C. Ferreira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Male Wistar Rats ◽  
First Time ◽  
Mato Grosso Do Sul ◽  
Antiproliferative Activities ◽  
Mcf 7

Background: The genus Psychotria and Palicourea are reported as a source of alkaloids and iridoids, which exhibit biological activities. This study aimed to evaluate antiproliferative and anticholinesterase activities and quantification of the alkaloids of seven species among the genus found in Mato Grosso do Sul region in Brazil. Methods: Concentrations of alkaloids were measured spectrophotometrically. The extracts were submitted to antiproliferative activity against ten cell lines. The anticholinesterase activity of the extracts was developed using brain structures of male Wistar rats: cerebral cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus and striatum by the Ellman method. Results: Alkaloids from Psychotria and Palicourea species were quantified which showed values of 47.6 to 21.9 µg/g. Regarding the antiproliferative potential, Palicourea crocea demonstrated selectivity against the 786-0 cell line (GI50: 22.87 µg/mL). Psychotria leiocarpa inhibited cell growth against OVCAR-3 (GI50: 3.28 µg/mL), K-562 (GI50: 5.26 µg/mL), HaCaT (GI50: 27.20 µg/mL), PC-3 (GI50: 34.92 µg/mL), MCF-7 (GI50: 35.80 µg/mL) and P. capillacea showed activity against OVCAR-3 (GI50: 2.33 µg/ml) and U251 (GI50: 16.66 µg/ml). The effect of acetylcholinesterase inhibition was more effective in the hippocampus, demonstrating inhibition for Paliourea crocea, Psychotria deflexa, P. brachybotrya and P. leiocarpa of 70%, 57%, 50% and 40%, respectively, followed by P. poeppigiana and P. capillacea, inhibiting 21%, compared to the control. Conclusion: Herein, the present work showed for the first time, anticholinesterasic and antiproliferative activities of extracts of Palicourea and Psychotria seem to be mainly associated with the levels of alkaloids in the leaves of these species.

Innovation in Byzantine Medicine

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros Bouras-Vallianatos
Keyword(s):  
Human Physiology ◽  
Medical Literature ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Medieval Medicine ◽  
Medieval Latin ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Comprehensive Examination ◽  
First Time

Byzantine medicine is still a little-known and misrepresented field not only in the wider arena of debates on medieval medicine but also among Byzantinists. Byzantine medical literature is often viewed as ‘stagnant’ and mainly preserving ancient ideas; and our knowledge of it continues to be based to a great extent on the comments of earlier authorities, which are often repeated uncritically. This book presents the first comprehensive examination of the medical corpus of, arguably, the most important late Byzantine physician John Zacharias Aktouarios (c.1275–c.1330). The main thesis is that John’s medical works show an astonishing degree of openness to knowledge from outside Byzantium combined with a significant degree of originality, in particular, in the fields of uroscopy, pharmacology, and human physiology. The analysis of John’s edited (On Urines and On Psychic Pneuma) and unedited (Medical Epitome) works is supported for the first time by the consultation of a large number of manuscripts. The study is also informed by evidence from a wide range of medical sources, including previously unpublished ones, and texts from other genres, such as epistolography and merchants’ accounts. The contextualization of John’s works sheds new light on the development of Byzantine medical thought and practice, and enhances our understanding of the late Byzantine social and intellectual landscape. Finally, John’s medical observations are also examined in the light of examples from the medieval Latin and Islamic worlds, placing his medical theories in the wider Mediterranean milieu and highlighting the cultural exchange between Byzantium and its neighbours.

Rebels, Believers, Survivors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel Malcolm
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Napoleonic Wars ◽  
Conversion To Islam ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Powers ◽  
First Time ◽  
Modern Myth

This book of essays covers a wide range of topics in the history of Albania and Kosovo. Many of the essays illuminate connections between the Albanian lands and external powers and interests, whether political, military, diplomatic or religious. Such topics include the Habsburg invasion of Kosovo in 1689, the manoeuvrings of Britain and France towards the Albanian lands during the Napoleonic Wars, the British interest in those lands in the late nineteenth century, and the Balkan War of 1912. On the religious side, essays examine ‘crypto-Christianity’ in Kosovo during the Ottoman period, the stories of conversion to Islam revealed by Inquisition records, the first theological treatise written in Albanian (1685), and the work of the ‘Apostolic Delegate’ who reformed the Catholic Church in early twentieth-century Albania. Some essays bring to life ordinary individuals hitherto unknown to history: women hauled before the Inquisition, for example, or the author of the first Albanian autobiography. The longest essay, on Ali Pasha, tells for the first time the full story of the role he played in the international politics of the Napoleonic Wars. Some of these studies have been printed before (several in hard-to-find publications, and one only in Albanian), but the greater part of this book appears here for the first time. This is not only a contribution to Albanian and Balkan history it also engages with many broader issues, including religious conversion, methods of enslavement within the Ottoman Empire, and the nature of modern myth-making about national identity.

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